1 A particle P starts from rest at O and travels in a straight line.

Its velocity v m s−1 at time t s is given

54
by v = 8t − 2t2 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 3, and v = 2 for t > 3. Find
t
(i) the distance travelled by P in the first 3 seconds, [4]
(ii) an expression in terms of t for the displacement of P from O, valid for t > 3, [3]
(iii) the value of v when the displacement of P from O is 27 m. [3]

9709/04/O/N/05

2 A particle P is held at rest at a fixed point O and then released. P falls freely under gravity until it
reaches the point A which is 1.25 m below O.

(i) Find the speed of P at A and the time taken for P to reach A. [3]

The particle continues to fall, but now its downward acceleration t seconds after passing through A is
(10 − 0.3t) m s−2 .

(ii) Find the total distance P has fallen, 3 s after being released from O. [7]

9709/04/O/N/08

3 A particle P travels in a straight line from A to D, passing through the points B and C. For the section
AB the velocity of the particle is (0.5t − 0.01t2 ) m s−1 , where t s is the time after leaving A.

(i) Given that the acceleration of P at B is 0.1 m s−2 , find the time taken for P to travel from A to B.
[3]

The acceleration of P from B to C is constant and equal to 0.1 m s−2 .

(ii) Given that P reaches C with speed 14 m s−1 , find the time taken for P to travel from B to C. [3]

P travels with constant deceleration 0.3 m s−2 from C to D. Given that the distance CD is 300 m, find
(iii) the speed with which P reaches D, [2]
(iv) the distance AD. [6]

9709/04/M/J/09

4 A vehicle is moving in a straight line. The velocity v m s−1 at time t s after the vehicle starts is given
by
v = A(t − 0.05t2 ) for 0 ≤ t ≤ 15,
B
v = 2 for t ≥ 15,
t
where A and B are constants. The distance travelled by the vehicle between t = 0 and t = 15 is 225 m.

(i) Find the value of A and show that B = 3375. [5]

(ii) Find an expression in terms of t for the total distance travelled by the vehicle when t ≥ 15. [3]

(iii) Find the speed of the vehicle when it has travelled a total distance of 315 m. [3]

9709/41/M/J/10
5 A particle travels along a straight line. It starts from rest at a point A on the line and comes to rest
again, 10 seconds later, at another point B on the line. The velocity t seconds after leaving A is

0.72t2 − 0.096t3 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 5,

2.4t − 0.24t2 for 5 ≤ t ≤ 10.

(i) Show that there is no instantaneous change in the acceleration of the particle when t = 5. [4]

(ii) Find the distance AB. [4]

9709/43/O/N/10

6 A walker travels along a straight road passing through the points A and B on the road with speeds
0.9 m s−1 and 1.3 m s−1 respectively. The walker’s acceleration between A and B is constant and equal
to 0.004 m s−2 .

(i) Find the time taken by the walker to travel from A to B, and find the distance AB. [3]

A cyclist leaves A at the same instant as the walker. She starts from rest and travels along the straight
road, passing through B at the same instant as the walker. At time t s after leaving A the cyclist’s
speed is kt3 m s−1 , where k is a constant.

(ii) Show that when t = 64.05 the speed of the walker and the speed of the cyclist are the same,
correct to 3 significant figures. [5]

(ii) Find the cyclist’s acceleration at the instant she passes through B. [2]

9709/42/M/J/11

7 A particle P starts from rest at a point O and moves in a straight line. P has acceleration 0.6t m s−2 at
time t seconds after leaving O, until t = 10.

(i) Find the velocity and displacement from O of P when t = 10. [5]

After t = 10, P has acceleration −0.4t m s−2 until it comes to rest at a point A.

(ii) Find the distance OA. [7]

9709/41/O/N/13

8 A particle P moves in a straight line. P starts from rest at O and travels to A where it comes to rest,
taking 50 seconds. The speed of P at time t seconds after leaving O is v m s−1 , where v is defined as
follows.
For 0 ≤ t ≤ 5, v = t − 0.1t2 ,
for 5 ≤ t ≤ 45, v is constant,
for 45 ≤ t ≤ 50, v = 9t − 0.1t2 − 200.

(i) Find the distance travelled by P in the first 5 seconds. [3]

(ii) Find the total distance from O to A, and deduce the average speed of P for the whole journey
from O to A. [6]

9709/42/O/N/13
9 A vehicle starts from rest at a point O and moves in a straight line. Its speed v m s−1 at time t seconds
after leaving O is defined as follows.

For 0 ≤ t ≤ 60, v = k1 t − 0.005t2 ,

k
for t ≥ 60, v = 2.
ït
The distance travelled by the vehicle during the first 60 s is 540 m.

(i) Find the value of the constant k1 and show that k2 = 12 60
. [5]

(ii) Find an expression in terms of t for the total distance travelled when t ≥ 60. [2]

(iii) Find the speed of the vehicle when it has travelled a total distance of 1260 m. [3]

9709/43/O/N/13

10 Two cyclists P and Q travel along a straight road ABC, starting simultaneously at A and arriving
simultaneously at C. Both cyclists pass through B 400 s after leaving A. Cyclist P starts with speed
3 m s−1 and increases this speed with constant acceleration 0.005 m s−2 until he reaches B.

(i) Show that the distance AB is 1600 m and find P’s speed at B. [3]

Cyclist Q travels from A to B with speed v m s−1 at time t seconds after leaving A, where

v = 0.04t − 0.0001t2 + k,
and k is a constant.

(ii) Find the value of k and the maximum speed of Q before he has reached B. [6]

Cyclist P travels from B to C, a distance of 1400 m, at the speed he had reached at B. Cyclist Q
travels from B to C with constant acceleration a m s−2 .

(iii) Find the time taken for the cyclists to travel from B to C and find the value of a. [4]

9709/41/M/J/14

11 A particle starts from rest at a point O and moves in a horizontal straight line. The velocity of the
particle is v m s−1 at time t s after leaving O. For 0 ≤ t < 60, the velocity is given by

v = 0.05t − 0.0005t2 .
The particle hits a wall at the instant when t = 60, and reverses the direction of its motion. The particle
subsequently comes to rest at the point A when t = 100, and for 60 < t ≤ 100 the velocity is given by
v = 0.025t − 2.5.

(i) Find the velocity of the particle immediately before it hits the wall, and its velocity immediately
after its hits the wall. [2]

(ii) Find the total distance travelled by the particle. [4]

(iii) Find the maximum speed of the particle and sketch the particle’s velocity-time graph for
0 ≤ t ≤ 100, showing the value of t for which the speed is greatest. [4]

9709/43/M/J/14
12 Two particles A and B start to move at the same instant from a point O. The particles move in the
same direction along the same straight line. The acceleration of A at time t s after starting to move is
a m s−2 , where a = 0.05 − 0.0002t.

(i) Find A’s velocity when t = 200 and when t = 500. [4]

B moves with constant acceleration for the first 200 s and has the same velocity as A when t = 200. B
moves with constant retardation from t = 200 to t = 500 and has the same velocity as A when t = 500.

(ii) Find the distance between A and B when t = 500. [6]

9709/41/M/J/15

13 A particle P moves in a straight line. The velocity v m s−1 at time t s is given by

v = 5t t − 2
for 0 ≤ t ≤ 4,
v=k for 4 ≤ t ≤ 14,
v = 68 − 2t for 14 ≤ t ≤ 20,
where k is a constant.

(i) Find k. [1]

(ii) Sketch the velocity-time graph for 0 ≤ t ≤ 20. [3]

(iii) Find the set of values of t for which the acceleration of P is positive. [2]

(iv) Find the total distance travelled by P in the interval 0 ≤ t ≤ 20. [5]

9709/42/F/M/16

14 A racing car is moving in a straight line. The acceleration a m s−2 at time t s after the car starts from
rest is given by
a = 15t − 3t2 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 5,
625
a=− 2 for 5 < t ≤ k,
t
where k is a constant.

(i) Find the maximum acceleration of the car in the first five seconds of its motion. [3]

(ii) Find the distance of the car from its starting point when t = 5. [3]

(iii) The car comes to rest when t = k. Find the value of k. [5]

9709/41/O/N/16

15 A particle P starts from a fixed point O and moves in a straight line. At time t s after leaving O, the
velocity v m s−1 of P is given by v = 6t − 0.3t2 . The particle comes to instantaneous rest at point X .

(i) Find the distance OX . [4]

A second particle Q starts from rest from O, at the same instant as P, and also travels in a straight
line. The acceleration a m s−2 of Q is given by a = k − 12t, where k is a constant. The displacement
of Q from O is 400 m when t = 10.

(ii) Find the value of k. [4]

9709/43/O/N/16
16 A particle P moves in a straight line starting from a point O and comes to rest 35 s later. At time t s
after leaving O, the velocity v m s−1 of P is given by

v = 45 t2 0 ≤ t ≤ 5,
v = 2t + 10 5 ≤ t ≤ 15,
v = a + bt2 15 ≤ t ≤ 35,
where a and b are constants such that a > 0 and b < 0.

(i) Show that the values of a and b are 49 and −0.04 respectively. [3]

(ii) Sketch the velocity-time graph. [4]

v (m s−1 )

t (s)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

(iii) Find the total distance travelled by P during the 35 s. [5]

9709/42/F/M/17

17 A particle starts from a point O and moves in a straight line. The velocity of the particle at time t s
after leaving O is v m s−1 , where
v = 1.5 + 0.4t for 0 ≤ t ≤ 5,
100
v = 2 − 0.1t for t ≥ 5.
t

(i) Find the acceleration of the particle during the first 5 seconds of motion. [1]
(ii) Find the value of t when the particle is instantaneously at rest. [2]
(iii) Find the total distance travelled by the particle in the first 10 seconds of motion. [5]

9709/41/O/N/17

18 A particle P moves in a straight line. The velocity v m s−1 at time t s is given by

v = 4 + 0.2t for 0 ≤ t ≤ 10,
800
v = −2 + 2 for 10 ≤ t ≤ 20.
t

(i) Find the acceleration of P during the first 10 s. [1]

 (ii) Find the acceleration of P when t = 20. [2]

(iii) Sketch the velocity-time graph for 0 ≤ t ≤ 20. [3]

(iv) Find the total distance travelled by P in the interval 0 ≤ t ≤ 20. [5]

9709/42/F/M/18

19 A particle P moves in a straight line starting from a point O. The velocity v m s−1 of P at time t s is
given by
v = 12t − 4t2 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 2,
v = 16 − 4t for 2 ≤ t ≤ 4.

(i) Find the maximum velocity of P during the first 2 s. [3]

(ii) Determine, with justification, whether there is any instantaneous change in the acceleration of P
when t = 2. [2]

(iii) Sketch the velocity-time graph for 0 ≤ t ≤ 4. [3]

v (m s−1 )

t (s)
0 2 4

(iv) Find the distance travelled by P in the interval 0 ≤ t ≤ 4. [5]

9709/43/M/J/18

20 A particle moves in a straight line. The particle is initially at rest at a point O on the line. At time t s
after leaving O, the acceleration a m s−2 of the particle is given by a = 25 − t2 for 0 ≤ t ≤ 9.

(i) Find the maximum velocity of the particle in this time period. [4]

(ii) Find the total distance travelled until the maximum velocity is reached. [2]
−1
The acceleration of the particle for t > 9 is given by a = −3t 2 .

(iii) Find the velocity of the particle when t = 25. [4]

9709/43/O/N/18